Recovery of 4-Methilchatecol from aqueous solutions by adsorption on polimeric resins

This work is focused on the recovery of 4-methylchatecol from aqueous solution by adsorption on polymeric resins. The target is the development of a process to recover the polyphenolic compounds contained in olive mill wastewaters. A specific polyphenol, 4-methilcatechol, was adopted as case study. The adsorption kinetics and equilibrium were experimentally investigated by using a stirred vessel and in a bench scale column. The desorption in alcoholic solutions was proven to be feasible. A phenomenological model of the process was implemented and a good agreement was found between experimental and predicted data.